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Discovery's Final Launch Successful
Phoghat writes "Overcoming a down-to-the-last-second problem, space shuttle Discovery made history yesterday, launching on its final mission to orbit. The most-traveled orbiter is carrying a crew of six astronauts and one human-like Robonaut, along with a new permanent storeroom and supplies for the International Space Station."
The launch itself went as planned; a few pieces of foam insulation broke free of the external fuel tank on the way up, but it's not expected to be a safety concern, and they're planning an inspection to make sure. NASA has videos of yesterday's launch and a Discovery retrospective, and the Atlantic has a great collection of pictures involving the shuttle. Mike Coats, pilot of Discovery's first mission in 1984, spoke in an interview about his connection to the orbiter. Discovery comes back to Earth on March 7th.
"Final Launch Successful"?
Even if it were unsuccessful, it still would have been Discovery's final launch.
Trolling is a art,
The delay in posting this story was the result of the editors staying up all night to review the footage for foam strikes.
Other sources rushed to judgment with yesterday's proclamations.
Yet another in a 30-year line of NASA PR flights. "Hey, look, we've got a ROBOT on this one!!"
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Do Endeavor and Atlantis also have one last turn,each or is that it?
Which is the more dangerous phase for the Space Shuttle (where "more dangerous" means "likely to blow up"): taking off or returning?
So far it's 1 for takeoff (Columbia) and 1 for returning (Challenger).
I wonder also what the general answer is for all manned spaceflight (at current technology)...big rocket filled with explosives shooting into the air, or coming back through reentry...
Advice: on VPS providers
maybe they're just waving, trying to bring our attention to their (last) plight? they're not unnoticed.
"a few pieces of foam insulation [breaking] free of the external fuel tank on the way up" weren't expected to be a safety concern on Columbia's final mission, too.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
I'm continually surprised by the number of people mourning the loss of the Space Shuttle as a major blow to space exploration considering if anything, the Shuttle program did more to kill space exploration than any other singular factor!
While I disagree with Michael Griffin's views on a lot of issues, the scathing paper he wrote in 2007 criticizing the merits of the Shuttle program should be required reading for both present and future NASA employees as it provides a substantial contribution to the case for why the Space Shuttle did more to kill our ability to explore space than any other factors did by wasting so much money, time, and resources away from the development of ELVs.
ELVs to this day remain a far more flexible, reliable and cost effective means of getting payloads into orbit and beyond than the Shuttle has ever been.
To be fair, the loss of both shuttles can be attributed a great deal to the culture shift at NASA, as there was a time when the organization prided itself on having the best engineers in the world, however all too often they have now been ignored in favor of the overly unrealistic views of scientists and management, the latter have shown a clear trend over the past several decades of ignoring safety concerns in favor of maintaining launch dates despite the inevitably fatal consequences of such an attitude.
More than one former NASA employee that I know has plans to hold a party during the launch of Atlantis' final flight in June (if funding for the mission goes through, if not, it will be at Endeavour's launch in April) not to commemorate the Shuttle program but rather to celebrate the future potential of Space Exploration when the Shuttle program finally dies!
I'm honest enough to admit I lie to myself.
Postponed 11 times, four months and 4 minutes. It was interesting to tour the NASA complex and see all the excited waiting watchers. For unclear reasons, last minute airfares werent available this week. I think it was due to people visiting Disney World during Presidents week and backlog from last weeks cancelations.
I watched it, not planning to, after a friend posted it on Facebook. I didn't even know it was happening at that point.
Then I watched the live video. And I was gobsmacked. Amazed. I didn't realise that human endeavour involved something travelling at 14,000 (fourteen thousand) miles an hour after 7 minutes in flight. I just didn't know quite how incredible it was.
I was sad that it was at night in the UK, because otherwise I wish that schools would stop so that children could watch this incredible achievement. Just amazing.
But where is the next achievement like this after the final shuttle launch after this? Shuttles are gone, Concorde is gone. What's going to inspire our children to reach past our current achievements? I worry we're become a society of "now, next minute" rather than "what we could be".
Clearly this was faked by our martian overlords. Whom I welcome, by the way.
HAND.
I was gobsmacked. Amazed. I didn't realise that human endeavour involved something travelling at 14,000 (fourteen thousand) miles an hour after 7 minutes in flight. I just didn't know quite how incredible it was.
get the fuck out now.
We've fallen to a second rate nation with the cessation of this program. I'm 83 so probably won't be around to see how far we fall. What I hate most is this is the legacy I'm leaving my granddaughters and it sucks!!!
Clearly this was faked by our martian overlords. Whom I welcome, by the way.
Our overlords are displeased with subjects who fail to use "whom" correctly...
Bow-ties are cool.
Go feed them and let us work!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:STS-133_Official_Crew_Photo.jpg
Sickening.
So a white man doesn't get to go into space because the Marxist nutcases at NASA just HAD to make the crew 'diverse' - i.e. an all white crew is NOT ALLOWED.
Damn those intelligent white people for inventing space travel, and just about EVERYTHING ELSE.
Are you sick of this shit yet? You soon will be.
Imagine if NASA was 100% BLACK.
How far do you think they'd get? Do you think there are sufficient intelligent black people in the world to put a shuttle into space?
Honest answers only please, and only answers based on FACTS, not wishful thinking.
Think about it - this is the world YOU are leaving to your children. A third world hellhole.
List of Space disasters
The Soviet disasters are, as you say, all re-entry. The US disasters are an even split, although you can quibble about Columbia since it was damaged on launch.
Of course, the US disasters killed more people because the craft carried more people. The Wiki list also has ground fatalities, but it includes non-manned missions. They also include non-rocket accidents in the training list.
There are, as always, lots of ways to juggle the statistics to make it look like something is worse or better.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
It doesn't matter if it's money well spent, I know logically it's time to let them go. But I'll still miss them.
All the worlds indeed a
They should give the old warhorse a Viking's funeral. Put some explosive on board, send it into orbit, point it toward the atmosphere so that the pieces land in a safe area, and then detonate the explosives as it goes into re-entry. It would be a great way for an old warrior to go out and possibly a great light show.
You could hire some drunken Icelanders to recite epics while it happens. Oh may be a few broke Old English majors to recite Beowulf.
Just a twisted thought......
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
Obama has succeeded in killing the US human space flight program.
Next up, Deep Space Program.
Then, Earth Observation System.
Last, NASA and NOAA.
As Glen Greenwald at www.salon.com observed, Obama has "fixations."
We have a Mad Man on the "button." May GOD help us all.
-308
PS.
Obama's (Barak-O-Vision's) Joint operation with Gaddafi to kill people continues.
Don't believe a word that BOV says in the press.
-Toodles
Whenever somebody says "it's our destiny" , I shiver. I'm conscious that any minute now they'll be waving a gun around and saying "God made me do it!" or "the voices in my head said it was my duty!".
Control your own future, my friend. Don't believe in destiny or any other crazy ideas that your future is mapped out and you have no free will. You don't have to base your life on the belief in Ancient Greek goddesses (though I suppose other people believe in other gods so who am I to say what your belief system should be based upon...)